Traumatic rap

It should be mentioned, when it comes to rap, I’ve been extremely choosy through my own music history, and the rare occasions I’ve listened to this art form, it has been through music genres such as triphop and drum n bass. I had a little hope a few years ago, that the english rap-metal outfit Hacktivist would be able to come up with a satisfying fusion of these two genres, an opportunity they unfortunately threw away due to lack of creativity when they finally released their debut last year.

I have all kind of respect for american mainstream rappers, but when it comes to the foundation of their music, the endless loops, it falls for deaf ears for my part. Much of this willfully ignorance is because I like a progressive sound, but it does exist people who fuse jazz, electronics and other genres into their music to support their rap. This side is represented by the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Travis Miller, where Lamar is probably one of those with the biggest successes on todays contemporary rap scene. Miller, who goes under the alias Lil Ugly Mane, have with his Bedwetter-project made a mini-album that draws infuences from jazz, industrial electronics, ambient and triphop, to create a gloomy setting for his lyrics. I do feel a certain parallel in the urbanized, dirty parts of his music to Burials debut that came out back in 2006.

Before Miller started doing rap he experimented with genres like black metal and noise. He formed the hiphop duo Legacy in 2005, and from 2010 he contributed in Chocolate Milk Collective and Raider Klan, groups that drew influences from the early Memphis scene with horrorcore and gangsta rap, and had a unique sound in their low-fi productions. It was when he started uploading his own music, first with a mixtape, then his debut Mist Thug Isolation, he started getting recognition on the rap scene. He has shown with each new release that he have a huge talent to include anything from jazz, metal, country and plunderphonics in his music.

Flick Your Tongue Against Your Teeth & Describe the Present can be described as both an instrumental album, and a deep dive into Millers traumas from his childhood. Through thirty minutes the listener is being led through a musical backdrop that perfectly amplifies Millers thoughts and feelings. In other words, an album you “safely” can put on to experience his melancholic universe.